I saw it last night [Nov 6] and I LOVED this movie. I didn't know that Ellen Page was going to be there, so that was a surprise. I'm also a huge JD Salinger fan (Hell, my email is glsschld) but I tried my best to view this film independent from that. As far as teen angst movies go, I thought that this one broke the mold. This wasn't one of those... "it's cool to be young and angry" type of movies... you really DON'T want to be this girl (at the same time resenting the similarities between yourself and her) but you do want to give her a hug.
When I was looking at the press and reviews of the film, I kept hearing quotes from Bruce about how it was just a movie about a normal 15 year old girl and being 15 in general. It's probably out of context but I kind of disagree with that general statement. This girl, Tracey, has some MAJOR demons (our own demons very) but I loved how it wasn't repressed... and in moments where feelings are repressed, you begin to wish it wasn't because you suddenly need that honesty. I LOVED the style. Out of all the confusion, I really liked that the style was straightforward. It was all split frames and simply represented fragmentation... It really puts you into the mind of the girl and it's important to realize that all of her experiences are subject to memory distortion, confusion, fantasy, humiliation and perspective... so good luck trying to identify what's what. Point being... it's all irrelevant. But oddly enough... that irrelevance provides a tiny bit of clarity only because anyone who doesn't live in a bubble, knows what it's like to experience stress, trauma or confusion... maybe even all at the same time regardless of age.
This film is great open ended... and I'm glad that only 3 people walked out this time.